True, In the Victorian/Edwardian Era, there were things like swastika hat pins and other such jewelry that was sold as being a symbol for good like. Going back even further, the Indians from India and American Indians thought it was a symbol for good luck as well as the ancient Greeks. Many times though, the swastika's arms were turned 90 degrees left instead of right like the Nazis did (although there were plenty of right bent swastikas as good luck symbols too) and many Indian pundits thought the right turning swastika would doom the Germans in which they were correct..........Nowhere Man
And, while we are at it, a symbol in Buddism also. I remember a few years ago the Falan Dafa held a huge rally in New York over their persecution in China -- and unveiled a giant 50 foot swaskita as their banner. Lots of confused Jews sat around wondering why there were so many Chinese Nazis........... ChicagoHebrew
Before the Nazi era, swastikas were, indeed, merely an ancient good luck sign.
During World War One, when personal identifying symbols were routinely used as decorations by fighter pilots, both Allied and German fighter pilots decorated their aircraft with swastikas as good luck symbols.
Aces who used swastikas as their identifying symbols included Raoul Lufberry of the Laffayete Esquadrille and the Jewish German ace Fritz Beckhardt.
In one of the great ironies of history, the dust jacket of the book "Jüdische Flieger im Weltkrieg" ("Jewish Flyers in the World War"), a pre-World War II history of Jewish German aces in World War One, featured the swastika decorated aircraft of Fritz Beckhardt.
Beckhardt received the Iron Cross (First Class), the House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords, the Hessian Medal of Bravery and the Hessian Order of Ernst Ludwig. Fritz Beckhardt was so loyal to Germany that, after the German defeat, he refused to deliver his aircraft over to the Allies and, instead, flew it to Switzerland.
Such loyalty was never repaid during the Nazi era.
Jewish German World War One Ace Fritz Beckhardt in his swastika decorated Siemens Schuckert fighter.